Enter Centric: Approaching Problems Process First
The client partnered with Centric Consulting’s Operational Excellence team because of our ability to think process-first and consider their business holistically.
We started with an assessment to identify areas for improvement and consolidation. We then designed processes for a future state that took advantage of modern management techniques and systems. Using that future state design, we identified two primary areas for process orchestration: workflow and business rules.
We designed the workflow to improve efficiency and productivity while reducing errors in the process. We automated manual steps, streamlined workflows and provided seamless integration with other systems the company used.
They needed to break down the workflow silos between systems, teams and individuals. Systems had only been talking to each other through manual data entry, and the data passed between these areas was not always current, or it only captured a point in time. Management presented tasks to their teams using multiple systems without a clear indication of what the priority should be or what system the user should work in next. Individuals also needed to dig between multiple systems, comments and records to view the history of a case or application to move the process along.
We built a workflow engine our client could use across the entire organization. This allowed us to define a process and then put different users into distinct roles. The system automatically assigns tasks based on their role, priority level and other factors, such as time spent completing previous tasks or the number of items in progress at any given time (service level agreement).
Next, we identified key areas to make use of business rules. Previously, they relied upon individuals to make decisions that could easily be defined and programmed without a user decision. We took a multi-faceted approach to business rules management.
Firstly, the business needed to be able to make changes to business rules quickly without having to involve technical resources. Secondly, they needed to understand the repercussions of these rule changes. By implementing a business rules engine that allowed the business to define their rules and then perform unit testing and integration testing, they could ensure any changes would not adversely affect other areas of the system. This approach provided the business with a way of understanding the impact of change without requiring them to have advanced technical skills.
The Results: Aligned Through Business Process Management
Their processes were already ripe for orchestration through business process management (BPM). They simply needed help realizing it. They can now keep business and technical team members aligned using BPM software. Their goals are clear, messaging is consistent, and with clear visibility into process, team members can collaborate seamlessly. With the right tools in place, our client can use BPM to create a consistent set of well-documented processes everyone involved can understand. This allows for a more streamlined approach to development, helps prevent changes from adversely affecting other areas of the system and provides an avenue for business users to understand how changes impact their work.
What’s Next
We anticipate an increase of 30 percent in second sale numbers. We also expect a 75 percent reduction in annual high-volume manual tasks. Typically, unscheduled bursts of demand place a heavy burden on support team members, who must perform many manual tasks in order to meet those claims. With this automation, we will reduce that heavy reliance on support team labor and gradually lower overall burst cost. The client’s burst cost is largely the result of ongoing efforts to reduce high processing backlogs due to process inefficiencies and employee turnover.
Our next steps are to implement the BPM tooling with other existing systems and automating more documents, whether this is ACORD form processing or optimizing the process for customers to input requested and required documentation for further review. We expect this to decrease their team’s time to approval by 35 percent.
The contact center is another key area where we plan to implement process orchestration. Since much of the data will already be exposed to the BPM system, we can quickly build case management and appropriate and interactive screens for representatives. When we are complete, our client’s enhanced technical architecture will allow for faster adoption of future technologies and business process integrations that may not even exist yet. We look forward to witnessing the long-term impact of their newly improved process orchestration on this company.
